Hackett backs Arsenal's penalty claim after Rice and Arteta condemn Siebert's call in UCL final

Former Premier League referee Keith Hackett has backed Arsenal’s argument that they were denied a clear penalty during extra-time of their Champions League final defeat to Paris Saint-Germain, adding authoritative weight to complaints from Declan Rice and manager Mikel Arteta.

The incident centred on a collision between Arsenal winger Noni Madueke and PSG’s Nuno Mendes inside the penalty area. Madueke appeared to have moved beyond the Portuguese defender before contact sent both players to the ground. Referee Daniel Siebert waved away Arsenal’s appeals, and VAR declined to intervene, ruling there was no clear and obvious error. Rice was booked for dissent after protesting the call.

Hackett, speaking after the final, said the decision was far from straightforward but suggested Siebert should have taken a second look. “The referee was firm in his decision not to award a penalty kick, satisfied that no offence had taken place,” Hackett said. “VAR, viewing the replays, decided that there was not a clear and obvious error by the match referee to meet the criteria to send the referee to the screen. Without question, I think we can all say that we have seen these given. I suspect the referee judged that the Arsenal player was doing the holding. Frankly, in these tight decisions, I would like the referee to have a second look to determine the accuracy of such an important call.”

Rice, who said he had not yet reviewed the footage at the time of his post-match comments, remained measured despite his frustration. “At first glance on the pitch, I thought Noni was ahead of Nuno Mendes,” he said. “Looking back at the one we got against Bayer Leverkusen, it was very, very similar. Obviously I was gutted at the time because I thought the ref would go and have a look. But it was obviously not clear enough to be a penalty — and I thought it was, and so did our bench and so did our players.”

Arteta was more pointed in his criticism, arguing that similar incidents elsewhere in this season’s Champions League had resulted in spot-kicks. “I watch it back and it could easily be a penalty,” the Arsenal manager said. “Especially when we see the penalties they gave this year in the competition. The referee made a decision, and he made a different one with Cristhian Mosquera, and that is an important one.”

The penalty controversy overshadowed what had already been a painful evening for Arsenal. The Gunners had the chance to win the match from the spot earlier in the game but saw both Eberechi Eze and Gabriel Magalhães miss their kicks, with PSG ultimately claiming the trophy.